Walmart & Sam’s Club Reduce Packaging

Walmart and Sam’s Club have launched a new initiative to reduce the packaging of products sold on their shelves. This move will reduce shipping costs as well as increase sustainability. Click through to find out the innovative ways Walmart and Sam’s Club have found to reduce their packaging.

To get all of its suppliers on board with the company’s sustainable packaging goals, Walmart created the Packaging Sustainable Value Network (SVN). The network includes product suppliers, packaging suppliers, government associations and Walmart managers. When Walmart has a concept for more sustainable packaging, they can consult the SVN for advice.

Here are some cases in which Walmart has been able to make their packaging more sustainable:

Reducing the packaging of the Kid Connections private label brand not only allowed the box to fit the product better, it also saved Walmart $3.5 million in transportation costs

Sam’s Club switched some of its Simply Right store brand items from a box to plastic overwrap, saving 907 metric tons of packaging material

The box holding the XBOX gaming system was reduced to one that was smaller and revealed some of the actual product. Walmart found that this change actually communicated more value to consumers, as they could see the actual item before purchasing.

Instead of placing children’s car seats in fully-enclosed boxes, Walmart took a similar approach to the XBOX and the result was the same, with an added benefit of reducing the product’s shelf space by half.

Even though Walmart and Sam’s have been reducing packaging overall, product damage is down 20% since 2008 thanks to a more strategic approach to packaging.